


The Creature in the Dark

by Marie_thevillain



Series: Twenty One Pilots one-shots [2]
Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Gen, One Shot, not sure how to classify this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 02:25:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7022833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marie_thevillain/pseuds/Marie_thevillain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh goes to take out the trash, and instead gets knocked over by a creature he's never seen before.</p><p>Huh. Creature has a nice face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Creature in the Dark

Josh was taking out the trash when he realized just what the phrase "alone in the dark" meant. It was the middle of the night, and the streetlights that normally gave him a sense of safety had burned out. The apartment building he lived in was in a quiet neighborhood, and there was a distinct absence of traffic noise. It felt like the darkness had even swallowed up the sound of crickets.

It was silent and huge. The trees were illuminated by the moon's light, with a backdrop of clouds. There were no stars to look at. The atmosphere was foreboding, and it made Josh feel like something was waiting in the dark. A lonely monster, reaching out with desperate hands to grasp his throat and ankles in a slimy hold.

Quietly, he hoisted the first trash bag into the dumpster. _'Okay. Three more before I can get back home. It's just upstairs. Literally nothing will be able to hurt me.'_ Now he was wishing that he hadn't waited so long to do the trash. Then there'd be less bags.

He tried to toss two in at a time, and they went over the lip of the dumpster, landing with the jarring crash of broken glass bottles. He cringed, and held his breath before reaching for the last bag.

There was a quick shuffling noise. It was faint, but constant and getting louder. 

_Scuff, scuff, scuff!_

Josh's grip slipped, and the trash fell to the ground as something collided into him.

He shrieked, put his arms in front of his face, and squeezed his eyes tightly shut when the thing tackled him to the ground.

There was a responding yell from the body on top of him. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!"

The body, which Josh now knew was a person, quickly got off of him, apologizing repeatedly and saying they didn't like the dark so they were running to get to the light.

Josh slowly opened his eyes, and peered through his pink hair at the silhouette before him. They were reaching down with cautious hands, and Josh began to push himself into a sitting position, pulling his knees close. He exhaled, trying to ground himself.

"Hey, are you okay?" The stranger knelt down slowly, and sat next to him. "I'm really sorry I scared you. I had no idea," they continued to talk, slower now. It was a constant flow of words, not rushed, just... steady.

After a few minutes of Josh breathing and not listening, but still understanding that they truly were sorry and would likely continue to say so until he responded, he said, "I'm alright." He swallowed and turned his head to see the other's face. "I'm okay. You just... really surprised me."

The stranger, wearing a red beanie and a nice face, but also a strange blackness around their neck and on their hands, smiled in relief. "Okay. You are okay? Again I'm-"

Josh nodded. "I'm alright." He started to stand up and grab his fallen trash bag. The person with a nice face stood up too. "Um, are you okay? I think you almost freaked out more over me than I did you." He leaned down to grab the bag, keeping his gaze on the person, and willing his heart to slow down.

"Oh, I'm fine." They hastened to reply. "I just care! I didn't want to scare you and have you think I was nuts or weird. Otherwise I'd be up all night thinking, "Great, wonderful thing you did there, Tyler. You frighten someone half to death and then leave them on a bad note." They began waving their hands in demonstration. "Now for the rest of their life you will be remembered as the monster in the night." Tyler stopped and lowered his hands in front of him. "Sorry."

Josh found himself smiling a bit. "I promise, you're not a monster. Er, well. Yeah." He fumbled, remembering the feeling he'd had earlier. "You don't have to keep apologizing. I'm, I'm okay."

Tyler smiled at him, "I just care what you think. If that sounds normal. If not, then disregard everything that just came out of mouth." They gave a high pitched giggle.

Josh tried to breathe deeply, "No, you're fine. Um." He looked down at the bag in his hands. "I'll just finish my trash?"

"Of course!" They laughed again, the sound feeling off-kilter. "Goodnight then!" Tyler started walking backwards to the building.

Josh watched until they waved and entered the apartments. Then he turned and threw the trash in the dumpster. _'I've definitely never seen them before. Did they just move in?'_ He almost hoped to see them again, under more normal circumstances. Maybe it was the adrenaline that made them so... skittish? Odd? Something didn't seem right. It was probably just the situation.

Shaking his head, Josh slowly walked back to the building. Before he went in though, he stopped to look back out into the darkness. It didn't seem like there was a creature waiting in the dark. Not anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> So. Yup. Another one-shot. I may just end up making a series of them.
> 
> It's up to you, whether Josh met Tyler or Blurry.
> 
> Kudos and comment if you liked it! I like tips, reviews, and critiques. They're interesting and make me feel like you have a part in the story as well.


End file.
